Kopimism

Definition - What does Kopimism mean?

Kopimism is a modern-day religion that considers file sharing and copying of information to be a sacred virtue. Founded by Isak Gerson of Sweden, Kopimism presents itself as a religion with no god, where data sharing is considered to be the highest virtue and form of worship. The congregation has its headquarters in Sweden and calls itself the Missionary Church of Kopimism. It has several branches all over the world in countries like Australia and the United States.

Techopedia explains Kopimism

Kopimism is a new-age belief system founded by Isak Gerson which considers information and the act of copying to be holy. The church of Kopimism was founded as a way to organize their love for file sharing and knowledge acquisition. The praying rituals and religious practices include worshiping the value of information and copying it.

The places of worship and religious gathering could be either physical, as in traditional religious gatherings, as well as digital with people meeting up on a server or a Web page.

Kopimism has its own logo called the kopimi, which is a K inside a pyramid. Symbols containing the common commands used for copying such as Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V are also used in Kopimism.

Kopimism aims to make information open to all and stresses the value and importance of information for sustained development. Copying as noted by Kopomists multiplies the value of information. They promote the removal of copyright acts and the legalization of all kinds of file sharing. Kopimism’s main idea is to keep the information alive and safe from destruction.

Kopimism has more than 3,000 members, and new members can register with the Kopimism site.

This particular religion has no concerns about deities or other religious aspects like the afterlife.

Kopimism was first accepted as a legitimate religion in Sweden in 2012. Now, it has branches in 18 countries and has allowed people to follow their own versions of Kopimism as long as the ideals of sharing and enriching data are met.